Several types of meshothelioma cell

Several types of meshothelioma cell

1. Epithelial mesothelioma

These cells are uniform shape with elongated pattern. Easily distinguishable when viewed under microscope with high magnification. The most common cell type, around 50 – 75 percent of all cases.The disease has a very long latency period, which can be anywhere from five to seventy-five years

2. Sarcomatoid mesothelioma

These cells grow forth out of supportive structures, such as muscles and bones. A less common sell type around 20 percent of all diagnosed cases. It is are elongated and spindle-shaped, and are arranged in a rather haphazard way
Sarcomatoid cells also lack a nucleus, unlike epithelioid cells, which have clearly visible nuclei. The desoplastic variety of sarcomatoid mesothelioma is difficult to distinguish fromhealthy tissue in many cases, making an accurate diagnosis challenging

3. Bipashic mesothelioma

Mix of 2 cell types above. Unlike the more common epithelioid type, biphasic mesothelioma cells lack a specific structure. The former has a clearly visible nucleus and is found in uniform, organized arrangements and tend to be of a single shape, sarcomatoid cells are more oval and have no easily identifiable nucleus.

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OVARIAN CANCER: EXAMPLE OF AN UNSUCCESSFUL CANCER SCREENING STRATEGY

In contrast to the documented clinical utility of cytological screening for cervix cancer, there is currently no evidence of a benefit associated with screening for another, even more difficult gynecologic malignancy, e.g., ovarian cancer.

Important differences between the two disease entities help explain the lack of efficacy for ovarian cancer screening. First, although the cervix is very accessible to visual inspection and routine cytological analysis, the small ovaries are protected deep in the pelvis and present a serious problem for direct visualization.

Second, especially in premenopausal females, the ovaries are in constant change during the menstrual cycle. Thus, “abnormalities” observed on radiographic evaluation (e.g., ultrasound) may simply represent physiologic changes and not serious pathology. Even the common finding of cysts on ultrasound examination may be viewed in most women, more as a variant of normal physiology and anatomy rather than as a cause of serious concern.

Third, although obtaining frequent cytological analysis of the cervix is quite simple and associated with minimal discomfort, the biopsy of an ovary requires a surgical procedure (e.g., laparoscopy) and is associated with a concern for surgical morbidity and small risk of loss of ovarian function.

Fourth, although cervix cancer has well-defined premalignant (i.e., severe dysplasia) and early malignant (i.e., carcinoma in situ) components that can be diagnosed and easily treated, there are currently no established precursor lesions for cancer of the ovary.

Finally, the natural history of cervix cancer, from precursor lesions to invasive cancer, has been well documented. It is recognized that by finding and treating premalignant and early-stage malignancy the prognosis is greatly improved.

In the case of ovarian cancer, it remains completely unknown if the finding of “stage 1” disease during the performance of any screening test (e.g., abnormal vaginal ultrasound, elevated serum CA-125 antigen level) will have a favorable impact on survival from the malignancy (9,10). For example, despite the fact that the cancer appears to be confined to the organ of origin, microscopic metastatic disease may already be present at the time of diagnosis. Also, as it is known that
approx 10–20% of patients with ovarian cancer currently are found to have surgically documented stage 1 ovarian cancer, without the use of any screening strategy, it remains uncertain if screening will actually favorably impact on the percentage of individuals presenting at this early stage of disease. An alternative hypothesis is that nonscreened individuals who are destined to have stage 1 ovarian cancer will be essentially the same patient population whose cancers are discovered by any screening strategy to be confined to the ovary.

In view of these considerations it should not be surprising that several analyses of the cost-effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening have concluded that, with available techniques, such screening is highly unlikely to be a useful approach to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with this difficult malignancy in a general patient population without a family history of ovarian cancer.

CONCLUSION
Cancer will ultimately affect one-third of all individuals and two-thirds of all families in the United States. Early in this new century, malignant disease will surpass heart disease as the leading cause of death in this country. Thus, it is important that we carefully and critically examine any and all strategies that have the potential to effectively lessen the morbidity and mortality associated with malignancy. Cancer screening is an obvious approach to accomplish this goal. However, despite the promise of this therapeutic strategy, we must be careful to avoid the temptation to accept the clinical usefulness of a proposed cancer screening program until it has been thoroughly tested in randomized controlled trials to document that the “costs” associated with the approach (e.g., monetary, time, inconvenience, anxiety, unnecessary procedures for falsepositive testing) are justified by a favorable impact on survival. The costeffectiveness of all proposed cancer screening strategies, as well as careful definitions of target populations, should be established before any approach is accepted as a component of routine medical care.

From: Cancer Screening: A Practical Guide for Physicians
Edited by: K. Aziz and G. Y. Wu © Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

REFERENCES
1. Sparen P, Gustafsson L, Friberg L-G, et al. (1995) Improved control of invasive cervical cancer in Sweden over six decades by earlier clinical detection and better treatment. J Clin Oncol 13:715–725.
2. Cannistra SA, Niloff JM. (1996) Cancer of the uterine cervix. N Engl J Med 334:1030–1038.
3. Adami H-O, Ponten J, Sparen P, et al. (1994) Survival trend after invasive cervical cancer diagnosis in Sweden before and after cytologic screening. Cancer 73:140–147.
4. Austin RM, McLendon WW. (1997) The Papanicolaou smear. Medicine’s most successful cancer screening procedure is threatened. JAMA 277:754,755.
5. Fahs MC, Mandelblatt J, Schechter C, et al. (1992) Cost effectiveness of cervical cancer screening for the elderly. Ann Intern Med 117:520–527.
6. Koss LG. (1989) The Papanicolaou test for cervical cancer detection. A triumph and a tragedy. JAMA 61:737–743.
7. Marshall CJ, Rowe L, Bentz S. (1999) Improved quality-control detection of falsenegative pap smears using the Autopap 300 QC system. Diag Cytopath 20(3):170–174.
8. Cannistra SA. (1993) Cancer of the ovary. N Engl J Med 329:1550–1559.
9. NIH Consensus Development Panel on Ovarian Cancer. (1995) Ovarian cancer. Screening, treatment, and follow-up. JAMA 273:491–497.
10. DePriest PD, Gallion HH, Pavlik EJ, et al. (1997) Transvaginal sonography as a screening method for the detection of early ovarian cancer. Gynecol Oncol 65: 408–414.
11. Schapira MM, Matchar DB, Young MJ. (1993) The effectiveness of ovarian cancer screening. A decision analysis model. Ann Intern Med 118:838–843.
12. Carlson J, Skates SJ, Singer DE. (1994) Screening for ovarian cancer. Ann Intern Med 121:124–132.
13. Mackey SE, Creasman WT. (1995) Ovarian cancer screening. J Clin Oncol 13:783–793.
14. Landis SH, Murray T, Bolden S, et al. (1999) Cancer statistics, 1999. CA Cancer J Clin 49:8–31.

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New Test Assesses Individual Breast Cancer Risk

MONDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) — Analyzing individual breast tissue for specific structural characteristics may more precisely determine a woman’s risk for developing breast cancer.

In the Oct. 5 online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers report that the more acini a woman has — these are the sacs that produce milk — and the larger her breast lobules, the higher the chance she will get breast cancer.

“A tremendous number of women get breast biopsies from abnormal mammograms. They number 1 to 2 million people a year in the U.S. alone,” said study co-author Derek Radisky, an assistant professor of biochemistry at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. “Of these, about one-quarter have positive findings of cancer while the rest could immediately benefit from this kind of assessment.”

“We have recognized for a long time that the cancer risk-assessment models we have are not perfect, particularly for individual patients, so certainly this is an approach that’s very interesting. But it’s not going to change anything for a woman who walks in the clinic for the next year,” said Dr. Angela Bradbury, director of the Margaret Dyson Family Risk Assessment Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. “But it’s exactly this type of paper, this type of research that, two to three years down the road, may actually play out in the clinic. Anything that improves on our risk assessment will be useful.”

Currently, factors such as family history of breast cancer, number of pregnancies and age at first pregnancy are helpful in predicting how often breast cancer will arise in a larger population.

But these same tools are poor indicators of individual risk.

“They’re terrible on an individual basis, so there’s no individualized ability to say whether a person is likely to get cancer or not,” Radisky said.

Other than family history and genetics, the best tool experts have to predict individual breast cancer risk is the Gail model, which takes into account age and number of previous biopsies, as well as family history and pregnancy history.

But, the authors stated, the Gail model is “only slightly better than chance alone.”

This is not the case in cervical or colon cancer, where pathologists can tell from physical characteristics of actual tissue how likely a person is to get that type of cancer.

Breast cancer originates in the breast lobules. The lobules are supposed to disappear as a woman ages, reducing her breast cancer risk, but this doesn’t always happen.

The authors analyzed tissue from 85 women with breast cancer (as well as earlier tissue samples taken before they developed the cancer) and 142 control samples from women who had had benign breast disease.

The more acini per lobule a woman had and the larger the lobule, the higher her risk for developing breast cancer, the researchers found.

This new technique proved more accurate than the Gail model.

The study was a relatively small one by breast cancer standards. More research will not only have to have more women, it will also need to incorporate additional risk factors and will need to be tested in a separate set of women, Radisky said.

Still, he said, the current results “look very good” and he would be “pretty shocked if [more findings] were not consistent.”

If more studies do replicate these initial findings, the procedure might find its way into clinical practice fairly easily and quickly.

“That’s the real power of this. It’s not high tech. It could be done anywhere that takes tissue and has a microscope,” Radisky said. “It could be done anywhere once we build the model, using factors that are available to the physician just from asking the patient and taking tissue, which could be evaluated by any pathologist in any town in America.”

More information

The American Cancer Society has more on risk factors for breast cancer.

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

SOURCES: Derek Radisky, Ph.D., assistant professor, biochemistry, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.; Angela Bradbury, M.D., director, Margaret Dyson Family Risk Assessment Program, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; Oct. 5, 2009, Journal of Clinical Oncology, online

Mesothelioma

The Mesothelioma Family Resource Center is dedicated to providing information on mesothelioma, including the latest mesothelioma treatment options and legal precedents. It is our strongest desire to equip you with knowledge about this cancer and your options.
What is Mesothelioma?

Mesothelioma is a rare form of asbestos cancer that develops in the mesothelial cells. These cells form tissue that surround or line the lungs, heart, and stomach. The mesothelial cells protect these organs by producing a lubricating fluid that allows them to move smoothly.

Asbestos is the overwhelming cause of mesothelioma in the United States. Typically the asbestos exposure occurred in an occupation or work environment over a prolonged period of time. However, it is also well-established that bystander (working near others using asbestos products) and household exposures (exposure from family members and their work clothes in the home) are known causes of mesothelioma. There is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos.
Types of Mesothelioma

There are three types of mesothelioma: Pleural Mesothelioma, Peritoneal Mesothelioma, and Pericardial Mesothelioma.

* Pleural Mesothelioma accounts for 75% of all diagnoses.
* Peritoneal Mesothelioma accounts for less than 20% of all mesothelioma cases.
* Pericardial Mesothelioma is the most rare and accounts for very few cases.

Risk Factors

A risk factor is anything that increases your chance of getting a disease. While you may have one or many of the risk factors associated with a disease, such as mesothelioma, that does not mean that you will get the disease.

The main risk factor for mesothelioma is asbestos exposure. Prolonged exposure to asbestos through a job, or during a building demolition or remodel increases your chances. Other recognized, but very rare, known causes include exposure to zeolites (minerals primarily located in Turkey), therapeutic thoratrast radiation, and chronic inflammation of the pleura. However, there have been very few reported cases of mesothelioma from causes other than asbestos.
Symptoms of Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma symptoms include but are definitely not limited to:

* shortness of breath
* chronic cough,
* chest pain
* fatigue

Often mesothelioma is misdiagnosed because the symptoms are common to other ailments, such as colds and flu.
Stages of Mesothelioma

Stages of mesothelioma were established by the Mesothelioma Interest Group and adopted by the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), and are similar to the staging system used by most other cancers. At this time, the staging system is only applied to mesothelioma around the lung, and uses Roman numerals from I to IV (1 to 4) to describe the severity of the cancer.
Key Statistics

Each year, between 2,000 and 4,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma. This cancer has a very long latency stage, and most often shows up late in life and primarily in men. Unfortunately, mortality is very quick after diagnosis, typically because mesothelioma is often far advanced by the time a diagnosis is made.

Breast Cancer in African Americans
By Mesothelioma Lawyer

Being diagnosed with breast cancer is a traumatic experience for any woman. It was no different for Rosamond Stallings, a 45 year old African American woman, as the physician broke the bad news to her. An immediate mastectomy was advised as six malignant tumors were found. Rosamond feared she may not be able to see her children grow up or her grandchild celebrate his birthdays.

Recent studies reveal a chilling fact that more than 30 percent of breast cancer patients do not receive comprehensive treatment. African American women were also found to be 10 percent less likely than white women to receive the right treatment. A team of doctors at the Columbia University Medical Center are looking into why the discrepancy occurs.

Studies that have already been published show that African American women have more aggressive tumors and they are also less responsive to treatment. Socio-economic factors also play a key role in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. An African American woman who is poor or is uninsured may not be able to get the diagnosis early enough for the treatment to be effective. For cancer, early detection offers the best chance for cure. Initiating treatment at an advanced stage may not be fruitful. Since socio-economic factors impede regular screening, diagnosis and prompt treatment of the cancer, African American women do poorly when cancer survival rates are computed.

The lack of referrals to medical oncologists, miscommunication and cultural differences between patients and physicians are also being looked at as part of the study. There are also variations in the metabolism of chemotherapy and the physical tolerance of therapy. Since African American women have the highest rate of Breast Cancer than any other group of women under the age of fifty, physicians are of the opinion that instead of waiting till forty years of age to initiate the routine mammograms, African American women should start earlier.

A mammogram will detect any abnormality and routine screening will identify any signs that should be of concern early enough to start immediate treatment and complete cure of the disease. The healthcare system also needs to focus on developing and perfecting other means of cancer detection that are more dependable than mammograms.

Awareness about breast cancer is also important in combating this disease. Women have to proactively understand their family history of cancer and can opt for genetic testing and counseling if they are at high risk.

Better awareness, regular screening and early detection of breast cancer can ensure that this disease does not become fatal.

Alex White is a free lance writer and a health & fitness expert who has been associated with several health care providers across various specialties. Through his articles, Alex White wishes to inform and educate public about Breast Cancer which will benefit those who are looking for resourceful information regarding health.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cancer-articles/breast-cancer-in-african-americans-1302961.html

All About Mesothelioma

Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that is normally caused by asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma is cancer that occurs in the mesothelium.
Mesothelioma:Mesothelioma is a type of cancer affecting the cells of mesothelial lining in the chest and abdomen. Mesothelioma cancer can develop in the tissues covering the lungs or the abdomen. Mesothelioma has also been found in the stomach and other abdominal organs but it is much rarer in those areas than are both pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. Mesothelioma can also occur in the ovaries and scrotum. Mesothelioma invades the chest wall or the esophagus during the second stage.Mesothelioma also takes a long time to develop (typically 15-40 years), so patients today could have been exposed prior to the 1980s when asbestos was not highly regulated. Mesothelioma is not caused by smoking, as lung cancer so often is.
Symptoms:Symptoms One of the most common symptoms of mesothelioma is an accumulation of fluid between the lining of the lung and the chest cavity. Symptoms include:abdominal painascites, or an abnormal buildup of fluid in the abdomen a mass in the abdomen problems with bowel function weight loss. Symptoms such as trouble swallowing, pain, or swelling of the neck and face can be indications that the cancer has spread beyond the mesotheliom to other parts of the body. Symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include persistent pain in the chest and severe difficulty breathing caused by pleural effusion, or an accumulation of fluid in the pleural lining Cough, weight loss, and fever are also common symptoms. Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and abdominal pain and swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the abdomen. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear until 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos.
Diagnosis:The key to long-term survival from treatment of mesothelioma is early diagnosis, which enables the greatest potential for success from standard therapies. Diagnosis begins with a review of the patient's medical history, including any history of asbestos exposure. Diagnosis of Mesothelioma is based on a pathological exam, more commonly referred to as a biopsy.Since this disease can be hard to diagnosis and costly to treat, it may require the consultation of an experienced attorney. When conclusive diagnosis cannot be made from fluid samples, diagnosis is often made through a surgical procedure called a throrascopy.The average age at diagnosis of mesothelioma is between 50 and 70 years old, with men being affected three to five times more often than women. The diagnosis may be suspected with chest X-ray and CT scan, and is confirmed with a biopsy (tissue sample) and microscopic examination. The median survival time is 17 months, with ten percent of patients living for three years after diagnosis.
Conclusion:Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer which is fairly rare although in the last few decades the number of people who have died from it have dramatically increased. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer, but the deadliest one of all. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer and only affects between 2,000 and 3,000 people in the United States per year. Mesothelioma is less common in African Americans than in white Americans. Mesothelioma is rare in people under age 55. National Cancer Institute stats show that 3000 new diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma is reported each year. Mesothelioma is not always fatal and that is the hope to hold on to.